FAMILY'S SAGA ENDS IN HUGS

Updated 12:03 am, Thursday, July 21, 2011

Photo: Billy Smith II

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

The Leonard family reunites for the first time in the hallways of the Juvenile Justice Harris County courthouse, Wednesday, July 20, 2011 in Houston, Texas.
(l-r) Eight year-old Raheem Leonard, stands by with a smile as four year-old Abdullah Leonard hugs his mother Charlomane Leonard along with sister twelve year-old Sabrina Leonard, while ten year-old Prince Leonard II receives a hug from his father Prince Leonard, as seven year-old Saleem Leonard stands by. A Harris County juvenile judge ruled Wednesday July 20, 2011 that a Houston couple, whose six children were removed from their custody after caseworkers found the family living in a storage shed, will be able to have their children back. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) less

The Leonard family reunites for the first time in the hallways of the Juvenile Justice Harris County courthouse, Wednesday, July 20, 2011 in Houston, Texas.
(l-r) Eight year-old Raheem Leonard, stands by with ... more

Photo: Billy Smith II

FAMILY'S SAGA ENDS IN HUGS

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Prince and Charlomane Leonard sat together in a Houston courtroom Wednesday, anxiously waiting for a judge to decide their family's fate. With hands clasped tightly, the couple occasionally whispered to each other, biding the time before their turn to approach the bench.

Unknown to them, in the lobby on the other side of the court's double doors, their six children also were sitting, waiting and hoping that their family would all be together again.

It had been more than a month since Child Protective Services caseworkers found the family living in an eastside storage shed and removed the children from their parents' custody, citing unsafe living conditions as the reason. Since then, the couple, who said they'd never been apart from their children for a night, were able to see them for only six hours a week.

"I just already feel like I've missed so much," Charlomane said as she sat in the courtroom.

The judge's ruling came after the couple secured a four-bedroom rental property this month in hopes that the court would return their children.

After attorneys and CPS officials told Harris County Juvenile District Judge Stephen Newhouse that the Leonards had complied with their recommendations, he ordered that the children be returned to their custody after the court hearing Wednesday.

"I am so happy," Prince Leonard said of the judge's decision. "It was like dark cloud was lifted off of me."

CPS: Poverty not factor

The family lived in the 12-by-25-foot shed, which they outfitted with a wood-burning heater, AC unit and compost toilet while fetching water from a nearby spigot, for nearly four years before the CPS action last month.

The Leonards say the children were safe and happy in the shed. They also said caseworkers visited only once before making their decision, and they felt they were targeted by CPS for being poor.

"Everybody just kind of rushed and made a decision about our family without even listening to us first," Charlomane said.

Legally, the agency cannot remove children on the grounds of poverty, and its officials maintain that it was not so in the Leonards' case.

"It was never about poverty," said Mark Cooper, the attorney ad litem for the Leonards' children. "It was about the way they used the resources they had."

Cooper said there were several reasons CPS caseworkers found the shed posed unsafe living conditions. He said the compost toilet was deemed unsanitary, that the family took baths and washed dishes using the same water from a 55-gallon barrel, and that the children were unsupervised and seen running around barefoot.

While the parents disagreed with the agency's reasoning, they complied with caseworkers and court recommendations to find a new place to live because they said their only goal was to get their children back.

"That's what they wanted us to do, so that's what we did," Charlomane said.

With assistance from community activist Quanell X, the couple found the rental property in north Houston, which they said they are paying for themselves, and moved in quickly. Since then, they have been decorating the new home to make it comfortable for their children.

Hopes lesson learned

Charlomane said she has been furnishing the children's rooms with items to match their personalities, like a canopy bed for her daughter and toy trucks for her sons.

All of the children seemed happy to be reunited with their parents and see their new home. Sabrina, their eldest, said that while she couldn't wait to see her new room, the shed's conditions were livable for her, too.

"I didn't mind," she said. "Because I always knew they were going to do something different."

Although the Leonards are happy to have a new home for their family, both said they wished that CPS had helped them, instead of just taking their children.

Charlomane said she hopes the agency's officials learn from their story.